VZCZCXYZ0008
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #0201/01 0361414
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051414Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8081
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS CAIRO 000201 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA, EEB/TPP/MTA/IPC/BOGER 
USTR FOR GROVES/MOWREY 
COMMERCE FOR 4520/ITA/ANESA/WEIGLER AND USPTO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR ECON ETRD EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT MAKES INCREMENTAL PROGRESS ON IPR PROTECTION 
 
REF: A. 2007 STATE 107629 
     ¶B. 2007 STATE 158938 
     ¶C. 2007 CAIRO 3297 
 
Sensitive but unclassified, not for Internet distribution. 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY: The Government of Egypt continues to make 
progress on the concerns identified in the Special 301 action 
plan for Egypt (ref A); more remains to be done.  This 
message responds to request in ref B to update the status of 
specific concerns, keyed to each item in the action plan. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------ 
Enforcement issues 
------------------ 
 
¶2.  (U) The Information Technology Industry Development 
Agency (ITIDA), which is part of the Ministry of 
Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), has sole 
responsibility for enforcement of copyright protection for 
business software, while the Ministry of Culture retains 
responsibility in the area of entertainment software for 
copyright protection of non-functional optical disk content 
such as music and movies (ref C). 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In a draft 301 submission, Microsoft Egypt 
described its relations with Egyptian enforcement authorities 
as "fruitful and long-term," estimating that the GOE conducts 
150 raids a month against software pirates. Microsoft 
reported that it assisted authorities in nine separate 
prosecutions involving thousands of suspected pirated 
software packages, including one case in which authorities 
confiscated products pirated from Microsoft and the American 
game manufacturer EA.  In this case, an appeals court fined 
the convicted pirate 60,000 LE (USD 10,500), which Microsoft 
said was the highest fine levied by an Egyptian court in such 
a case.  The appeals court overturned a lower court's prison 
sentence against the software pirate.  Microsoft Egypt's IPR 
and Licensing Compliance Manager would like to see more 
frequent raids against retailers and distributors. 
 
¶4.  (U) The Ministry of Culture has not resolved to 
Electronic Arts' (EA) satisfaction a long-standing court 
complaint by EA against an Egyptian company, Game Valley, 
which sells pirated EA products in Egypt.  The company has 
expressed concerns about the attitude toward IPR enforcement 
in lower courts.  Game Valley's license for the pirated 
products, which was issued by the Ministry of Culture, has 
expired.  The Ministry of Culture has pledged to not renew 
it, but we suspect that the local company has recently 
petitioned the Ministry of Justice to review the situation. 
We are currently seeking more information from the Ministry 
of Justice and will renew our engagement with the Ministry of 
Culture on the case. 
 
¶5.  (U) Book piracy remains widespread.  We are aware of no 
actions by the Ministry of Higher Education to discourage use 
of illegal copies of publications.  Microsoft estimates that 
software piracy in Egypt fell slightly from 64 percent of 
software in use in 2006 to 62.7 percent in 2007, compared to 
an average in the Middle East of 60 percent.  Damages from 
piracy are increasing because of the growing IT market, 
Microsoft estimated. 
 
¶6.  (U) USAID is providing technical assistance to the 
Ministry of Justice and other ministries to strengthen IPR 
enforcement, and Egyptian judges and other officials have 
participated in IPR programs conducted by the USPTO.  In late 
2006, the Minister of Justice created an economic circuit 
that will be responsible for hearing commercial law cases, 
and 120 judges for the circuit received training on 
commercial-law topics including IPR. In addition, USAID has 
financed training for 148 appellate judges on IPR and other 
commercial-law issues. 
 
¶7.  (U) Microsoft Egypt's IPR and Licensing Compliance 
Manager characterized 2007 as a "good year regarding 
litigation before the courts," crediting judicial training 
and public-awareness seminars for favorable IPR judgments. 
Newspaper accounts and other anecdotal reports also indicate 
an increase in judgments against IPR infringers as a result 
of judicial training. 
 
¶8.  (U) The GOE is still considering whether to implement the 
WIPO Internet Treaties (WCT and WPPT). 
 
-------------------------------- 
Pharmaceutical Protection Issues 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) The GOE has not responded to recommendations that 
USTR submitted to Minister of Health Hatem el-Gabaly in 
November to clarify its data protection policy to be 
consistent with its TRIPS obligations.  However, GOE 
officials have said previously that they believe their policy 
is already in accordance with their TRIPS obligations. 
 
¶10.  (U) Gabaly has conceded that a new streamlined 120-day 
marketing approval system for pharmaceuticals does not yet 
function as intended.  Delays in the process continue to 
affect the term of data protection for new pharmaceutical 
products, which begins on the day of application. 
 
¶11.  (U) Although current procedures appear to leave the door 
open for the GOE to issue marketing approvals to unauthorized 
copies of pharmaceutical products, Gabaly has pledged 
repeatedly that the GOE will not do so, and Egypt has not 
issued marketing approvals of such pirated drugs during the 
last three years. 
 
¶12.  (U) The Patent Office has reported to us that it has 
eliminated the pending backlog of "mailbox" pharmaceutical 
patent applications filed since 1995, although the ultimate 
disposition of the applications remains unclear. 
 
¶13.  (U) COMMENT:  We believe that our engagement with the 
GOE on this issue and the continuing efforts of private 
industry to promote IPR protection and awareness in Egypt has 
resulted in incremental improvement.  We will evaluate this 
record and the work that lies ahead in our upcoming Special 
301 submission.  END COMMENT. 
RICCIARDONE